Now A Woman Has Given Birth In A Waymo
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While this is a kind of “gee-wiz” story that just catches one’s attention, it does bring up an interesting point or three.
Increasing Passenger Safety via Robotaxis
First, the news: A lady hailed a Waymo robotaxi to the UCSF (University of California–San Francisco) Medical Center on Monday, and on the way there, she gave birth. A rider support staff member noticed “unusual activity” inside the Waymo robotaxi, called the rider, and alerted 911. Both passengers — the new mother and baby — did reach the hospital fine. In fact, they even arrived before the emergency services that were sent via the 911 call.
Reportedly, this isn’t even the first time a woman has given birth in a Waymo! However, we don’t have more details on that.
Now, a few questions do arise from this story. For one, how much are Waymo staff monitoring what’s going on inside of their robotaxis? Related, does the AI tied to the internal camera(s) just notify human staff when something specific or abnormal is happening inside the vehicle? Third, does this also mean that Waymo robotaxis are particularly safe vehicles for a variety of uncommon but dangerous scenarios — rape, assault, heart attacks, or other health and safety emergencies?
It’s also good to know that Waymo does quickly call 911 in cases like these that staff notice.
Tickets for Robotaxis
As a separate matter, while reading about this, I followed a link to another story about a Waymo making an illegal U-turn a few months back and the police officer not being able to give it a ticket when he discovered there was no human driving it. “That’s right … no driver, no hands, no clue,” a social media post from the San Bruno Police Department wrote alongside photos of the officer looking into the vehicle.
But that’s not the interesting or notable part. What’s interesting is that there will be an avenue for ticketing robotaxi companies for moving violations in California starting in 2026. “A new state law that kicks in next year will allow police to report moving violations to the Department of Motor Vehicles, which is figuring out the specifics, including potential penalties, the Los Angeles Times reports,” AP News writes.
Interesting. I wonder how many tickets different robotaxi companies will rack up. I also wonder what special documentation and reporting requirements police will have to follow.
I have to say, as a Floridian, I feel like California is operating in the future. How far ahead is the Golden State compared to the Sunshine State? Actually, never mind, scratch that question…. I’m not sure I want to know the answer.
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